


insufferably, dolt-ish

by spooky_lilith



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Bad coping mechanisms, F/F, Healing, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Marijuana, Modern AU, Recreational Drug Use, Trans Female Character, Trans Ruby Rose (RWBY), Vampire Weiss Schnee, Werewolf Ruby Rose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-19 07:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29871477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spooky_lilith/pseuds/spooky_lilith
Summary: After twenty-three years of her life has already come and gone thanks to Father, Weiss runs off into the big city, getting a gig as an Uber driver to pay the bills and taking to the drink whenever she's off, just like dear old mom.In a world without heroes or huntresses, Ruby never grows into an outgoing version of herself, always something 'a little extra', to make her more sociable and likeable to others.And Penny's the SDC's magnum opus, the first artificial consciousness of Remnant. At least, she would have been, if a hungover intern hadn't left her mechanical body in the trunk of Weiss's car.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Penny Polendina/Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 26
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Marijuana, References to Alcohol Use, Mentions of Dieting, Background Ladybug (FWB), Emotional Dependency.
> 
> a fic Idea i decided to explore, that got pretty far into the writing stage to the point where I decided to say 'fuck it,' and write it out.

It wasn’t as if she’d wanted to become an Uber driver in the first place. But as it turned out for poor Weiss Schnee, being raised all her life in a house that never wanted her to leave (Father Permitting), by a Father who only ever had one very specific plan for her (background dressing was the polite term to put it) did not exactly prepare the young, twenty-something Vampire for the modern, twenty-first century workforce.

Three AM on a tuesday. She's got three more hours until the sun would start to rise and rendering her vision nil. Her _very_ subpar iced coffee sat in her cup holder, mocking her for the money she’d spent on a drink that tasted of cardboard. The app taunted her, giving her little else to do but sit and wait in the dusty Nineties Toyota that cute blonde mechanic she’d slept with a month back recommended she get, with what little money she had lingering around in her savings.

She hadn’t much hope for her next clientele; the app specified the pickup point at Western Beach, a party town just a few clicks up northwest from city center, and the only beach in town where the clubs were always open, courtesy of the more nocturnally inclined faunus working them. There’d be a fifty-fifty shot she’d be cleaning up vomit from the seats of her car if she picked up another clubgoer.

And so she was pleasantly surprised when the route took her off the main street away all the bright neon lights and the inebriated crowds packing the nightclubs and the walkways. Seemed the route was taking her into a residential neighborhood.

She made good time, as always, not counting those godawful traffic jams she’d suddenly find herself in, at eleven pm on a weekday of all days.

Pulling near the driveway of the specified address, she’d been in the midst of contemplating whether or not to dump the cardboard coffee out the window so it didn’t stink up her car any longer, when a _very_ inebriated wolf faunus slumped against the front passenger window, knocking at the window to come in. 

Weiss groaned, already resigned to her fate. She rolled down the window.

“Heyy~” The wolf faunus said, peering her head around. This was bad. Weiss already had half a mind to roll the window back up on her neck and deal with the fallout of axing one of her customers later. “Nice ride.” She said, staring at her phone. “Uhm… Weiss?”

Weiss shrugged. “If you’re drunk, please sit in the back seat, where there are plastic bags in case you hurl.” She’d like to think, just once, just once there’d be a drunkard who was smart enough to actually yak into the bag, not around it.

“I’m not drunk, dummy, I’m stoned.” She said, pushing her messy red-tipped hair out of her face and flashing her silver bloodshot eyes. “No chance of me yakking. Promise.”

With her client being insistent, she could only pray now to whatever gods were out there that she was telling the truth. The doors unlocked. “Fine. Get in.”

“My hero.” The woman smiled, popping open the passenger door and hopping in.

Weiss smelled the air, hoping she wouldn’t stink up the car while she was at it. “You don’t smell like weed.”

“Edibles, duh.” The woman said, her bushy wolf’s tail wagging up and about, knocking the transmission out of Park. Fortunately for the two of them, Weiss’s foot had been on the brakes.

“Is your tail going to act up like this all night long?”

The girl took hold of it, tucking it underneath her ass to sit on it. “It’s in control. Sorry, it gets that way when I’m happy. I’m Ruby, by the way.” Ruby said, her grin big and stupid.

For whatever reason, it also compelled Weiss into asking why. Stupid muscle memory of hers, always asking how her passengers were because if she didn’t, they’d ding her a star or two for not being ‘personable’, whatever that meant.

“Why what?” Ruby asked, her ears suddenly perking up. “Oh! Why I’m happy? Uhm, it’s like three am, and I just walked out of my sister’s girlfriend’s house. I’ll let you make the connection there.” 

What reaction had been Ruby expecting from saying that!? ‘Hi-five?’

Weiss gawked at her, very, very confused. “You’re sleeping with your sister’s girlfriend?”

Ruby gave her an impish grin. “We like all talked about it and my big sis is fine with it. Can’t help it if Blakey’s really into us. Fuck, knowing her, it’s probably a turn on that we’re both sis-”

Weiss threw up her hands. “Stop. I really, really do not want to know.”

Yet Ruby, seemingly oblivious, continued to prattle on. “Like, we only really ever sleep with each other whenever she and Yang are on a break. Like, not ‘I hate you and I need time away from you’ sorta breaks, y’know? More like, ‘I’m curious about what’s out there, and I really love you, but I’m getting all cooped up in the pen, y’know?”

Weiss most certainly did not know. “That’s just polyamory, with extra steps.”

Pulling the car out of where she parked, it became increasingly clear how much she’d fucked up, letting her into her car and not just ditching her or throwing her out when she could have. Not helping, was Ruby’s chatterbox mouth, the wolf faunus determined to be insufferable as she could by commenting on everything they passed by as they started on the road.

“Gosh, I’ve got the munchies.” At a stoplight, was a diner whose entire aesthetic Weiss could only sum up as; ‘Deluded with the Fifties.’ “Hey, look, I know a guy who works that burger joint there, and it’s soo good.”

“I’m sure all the cholesterol and the grease speaks for itself.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Oh my gods, please tell me you’re not one of those health nuts who needs to watch every calorie they eat or they’ll cry.”

Remembering that her personal refrigerator back at the motel room she was staying at was stocked entirely with spirits and instant noodles, Weiss, wisely, shut up.

“Like, I tried following their advice for a while because I thought it would make me look cuter and stuff, but when I started overeating like everyone does at the end of their six months, that’s how I got a really fine, beautiful ass like this.” Ruby said, fingers already slipping underneath the hem of her skirt. “Not as nice as Blakey’s, but if you wanna see-”

The car came to a screeching halt at the behest of another red light, Weiss’s eyes everywhere but the road. “Shit. Sorry.”

“S’okay, s’okay.” Ruby said, flashing her with another dumb smile, looking at her with those silver, bloodshot eyes that she was already getting lost in again. “I’m flattered.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “This is not worth below minimum wage.”

Ruby laughed, adorably, resting her head on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll tip you lots and lots. We’ve gotta have solidarity between gig workers, right?”

Gently, Weiss pushed her off. “Another Uber driver?”

Ruby shook her head, her tail already out of place again, wagging around and knocking the rear view mirror out of place. “Shit, sorry. This thing gets really excitable whenever I’m talking to a cute girl like you.”

An unmistakable blush had made its way up to her cheeks. 

Ruby, for her part, seemed to catch up to what she’d just said. “Oh, I’m… uh, sometimes when I’m super-duper high, my mouth runs off and I don’t really have a filter anymore.”

It wasn’t as if Weiss could roll her eyes on that one, having spouted many incriminating details on herself while drunk off her ass. “I… see.”

As if enough hadn’t happened to tease her touch-starved heart, Ruby grabbed her arm, nuzzling into it. Fuck her, she really needed to find a girlfriend soon. “Thanks Weissy.” 

Ruby'd said her name at just the right pitch, getting Weiss's breath to hitch. “For what?”

“For not throwing my high ass onto the road, like you were thinking of doing.”

Weiss snickered, looking every which way, save in the direction of Ruby’s eyes. “I don’t know whatever you were talking about. And, admittedly, it is a cute ass.”

“Damn straight!”

It was difficult to parse out whatever her passenger was making her feel. Sometimes, she’d blather on about something relatable where Weiss hadn’t much to say, only ‘mhms and uh-huhs.’ Sometimes, they’d stop somewhere with enough lights to shine on Ruby’s neck, showing off all the hickeys marking her that was most definitely not filling Weiss with jealousy for whatever, indiscernible reason.

The highway Five they’d taken to get to wherever in the gods Ruby wanted them to be passed by the coast, skirting the beach, giving them a perfect view. It was one of Weiss’s favorite roads to speed down on, consistently brutal traffic jams that always began around the start of the work day be damned. 

Ruby brightened at the sight. “Ooh, I love Aqua Beach. There’s a pretty little cove over there where I sometimes love to skinny dipping this time of night.”

Weiss sputtered out a breath, blushing red and most certainly not thinking of whatever Ruby looked like underneath her clothes. She then made the mistake of looking over at Ruby, who, very obviously, was trying not to ogle her openly from her seat, sneaking a look here and then.

“Are you always this ridiculous whenever you’re intoxicated?” Weiss asked, in the hopes of steering the conversation to a topic that wouldn’t tease her unattended libido.

“I don’t drink, silly.” Ruby said, eyes firmly out her side of the car. “Well, sometimes Yang offers me a drink whenever I’m over at the shop, but it’s not really my thing. Also, I get drunk, really, really fast. Like, one glass of wine, and I’m like gone.”

“I see. How many edibles did it take to get you to this state?”

Ruby flashed her a mischievous grin, hand already rattling in her bag. “I have tons of the stuff, literally, it’s what I spend like a third of the money I make from Amazon on. You wanna see what I’ve got?” 

An idea popped into Weiss’s head. “No.”

Out of all the things she had thought could make her laugh, a very stoned Ruby trying her best to pout at her and pretend to be angry was not one of them. “Weiss! You’re so mean!”

“You think I actually care?” Weiss said, snickering at the face Ruby made. “Also, you’ve been avoiding my original question.”

“Oh?” Ruby made a face, the idea apparently returning to her. “Oh, well, you’d probably hate me when I’m not you know.”

“High off your ass.”

Ruby gave her another unintentionally terrible look of mock offense. “You think I’m high off my cute ass right now? Please. There was the time I munched on Blake’s entire batch of brownies when I was in high school, and like, I was out of it for three days. I couldn’t even think to myself the entire time, it felt awful.”

The route was coming to its end; three minutes left on the road till they got there. “Considering I can barely stand your high ass right this moment, I’m fairly certain you’d be considerably more tolerable in a sober state.”

Ruby shook her head. “Don’t think you understand, Weissy. I’m no fun when I’m sober. I’m all awkward because of my anxiety and all, and people don’t like talking to a girl who’s nervous all the time. Plus, whenever I’m alone, if I’m high, at least I’m high. I’m always alone whenever I’m sober, and it’s just so _boring_.”

Now, Ruby’s openness was deflating her lifted mood like a balloon. “I think the medical establishment would call this emotional dependence.”

Ruby’s mouth hung open, seemingly offended. “Nuh-uh!”

Weiss snickered, hiding her smile behind her shoulder so Ruby wouldn’t see. “Uhm, yes it is.”

“No it isn’t!”

“Yes it is!”

Ruby gave her a laughable pout, then giggled. “Okay, you’re probably right.”

Weiss smiled, triumphantly, pulling into the driveway of what was presumably, Ruby’s house. That, or some other booty call Ruby had available on her phone. Either wouldn’t surprise her. “I am right.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I mean, I don’t really care though. I work part time as a delivery driver for Amazon because no other job in this stupid city’ll take me, and I have meltdowns, working full-time, on the nine-to-five clock.” Ruby nudged her, wrapping her arms around her. And. She was warm. “Think about it Weiss, you’re a gig worker too. Don’t we deserve to feel a little bit nice, getting treated like shit by our shitty customers for shitty pay?”

It wasn’t as if Weiss could dispute her, what with the refrigerator full of spirits back at her place. And even considering that…

Ruby made a sound, nuzzling into the crook of Weiss’s neck, her arms so warm and safe to just be in. 

“I guess you’re right.” Ruby said.

Weiss was slow to respond, her touch-starved heart too busy relishing in the physical affection. On a whim, she buried her nose in Ruby’s hair. Salt, and strawberries. Her shampoo smelled like salt and strawberries. “Ah… about what?” 

“About the emotional dependence stuff.” Ruby said, lowly, as Weiss pulled up aside a lonely ramshackle beachside townhouse. Even from the relative safety of her car, the apartment screamed ‘bargain bin.’ Weiss would know; it’d been one of the places she’d been scouting out to live at while at the motel, before she’d drunk all her money away. “Don’t really have friends ‘cause of it.”

“I-” Weiss’s mouth hung open, her heart breaking at what she’d just said. “Wait, what?”

“Hugsies for my new bestie!” Ruby said, determined to ignore whatever it was that she’d just said, hugging her tighter.

“Ow, wait, give me some space! This ancient car isn’t a Tesla, you know.”

Ruby gave her another dumb smile, releasing her from the hug. There had never been a more disappointing moment in her life. “You’re so nice Weiss. And it’s a gorgeous car, what are you talking about? It’s a classic Toyota! These things never fucking die.”

“I suppose that’s why it came recommended.” Weiss said. Classic or not, it’d be the car she’d sleep in once her time at the motel was up, and her back was not looking forward to the stiff, faded material of the passenger seats.

“Where’d you get the beauty, anyway?” Ruby asked.

Weiss hesitated; it was the type of answer that verged on TMI, but given Ruby’s complete lack of a filter all ride long, and the waiting smile Ruby was giving her that she knew her stupid gay heart wouldn’t be able to resist for much longer, Weiss figured, ‘eh’.

What the hell.

“Got it used, recommended from a cute mechanic from the money I made trading my Daddy’s sports car in.”

Ruby’s eyes brightened. “Nice! You know what they say Weissy. New cars are for the rich, the men who are about there on their midlife crisis, and the financially irresponsible. Or something.”

Weiss gave her a look. “I have quite literally never heard of such a thing before in my life.”

“Well, the more you know!” The passenger door popped open, and Weiss could only watch as the blissfully intoxicated girl swung out of her car, stumbling to what again, she could only assume was the place she’d be staying in for the night. “Thanks Weiss! You’re super duper cute and stuff.”

Weiss laughs, Ruby rummaging around in her bag, and tossing into the car a pack of edibles, and a very crinkled twenty-dollar bill.

“Here you go!” Ruby said, seemingly happy, parting with more of her valuables than she’d needed to on this trip. “Your tip.”

“Almost makes dealing with you worth it.”

A tongue sticks out at her. “Ouch. Hurts my lesbian feelings, dude.”

Weiss laughs again, watching Ruby finally swing around, and take off towards the townhouse. Her phone dings, her rating nudging ever so slightly up, with another twenty-dollar tip popping up in the lower corner of her screen. Almost worth it.

She doesn't expect to see her ever again; repeat customers were rare, and came mostly around morning commute hours, just before the sun would rise to fuck her vision and keep her off the streets. And for whatever reason, Ruby's managed to rub off of her, since she'd just a little bit more lonely in the car, without her antics to fill it. She turns on the radio; she'd forgotten to turn it on to shut Ruby up, _unintentionally,_ she tells herself. Radio NPR playing, she pulls out of her parking spot and drives off, hoping for better luck with her passengers, further into the night.

_"Controversy has been stirred up in Southern Vale, regarding the Schnee Dust Company's ten million dollar plan to redevelop the entirety of Starin' Gardens into a tech campus, must to the outrage of the local faunus communities residing there. The neighborhood council called up a meeting yesterday, denouncing the plans as 'Undemocratic, Gentrifying, Slop.' A spokesman from Schnee Dust, had this to say."_

_"It is clear, that the economy of Vale would benefit greatly from the introduction of a tech campus, close to City Center. Our directors down here in Vale all unanimously agree, that the alternative locations for our campus are unsuitable. If Vale continues to be difficult, then I must remind the people of Vale that the Schnee Dust Corporation received many other offers for relocation from cities farther north, and that development plans are merely still in the planning phase._

The closing gig of her self-imposed shift brought her and her car over by City Center around a glitzy business and tourist hotel, to chauffeur some hungover, stinking yuppie who was due to attend the coming Schnee Dust Company Expo. Apparently, he was assistant to one of the most renowned minds in all of Atlessian Robotics; Pietro Polendina, if his hungover ramblings were of any indication.

There was some sort of sick irony that the daughter of Jacques Schnee, having escaped her father's, and the SDC's clutches, ended up chauffeuring SDC grunts to and fro the Expo, presumably for the next couple of days, if the hiked pay rates downtown were of any indication. No one had recognized Weiss as Weiss Schnee, daughter of Jacques Schnee and presumed heiress to the SDC, thanks to Father suppressing the inconvenient truth that Weiss Schnee was a bastard child between Mother and a Vampiric Faunus. Some noted the striking resemblance, but with her eyes free to glow their natural blood red, they'd all been thrown off her trail, at least for now.

Though it would be best to not take any jobs from city center from now on, hiked pay or not. Better to not tempt fate, and end up driving someone around who recognized her, and had half a brain cell.

The end of her self-imposed shift finally freeing her, she drove off back 'home', looking forward to finally tearing off her bra, and downing a glass of wine or two for some day drinking. Until very, very inconveniently for her relaxation schedule, she remembered that her last passenger for the day had asked to load cargo into the trunk of her dingy sedan.

She did not remember ever opening the trunk for him to unload it.

_Scheisse._

She threw open the trunk, having to suppress the urge to groan, when she confirms that yes, he'd left a 'present' for her inside.

She'd expected two hours later, a very irate phone call from corporate, nicking her ear off over whatever he'd left behind in the big fucking suitcase he'd loaded up in her trunk. Luggage. Secret corporate files detailing the SDC's war crimes in upsate Utica, or wherever else they'd been. A box of donuts and a coffee maker for a morning presentation. 

But no. It couldn't have been any of that.

Nothing could have been simple enough for Weiss Schnee.

Inside, was an entire fucking woman, lying dormant and perfectly upright, lifelessly dormant veering on the appearance of death, her arms and limbs kept tied together through steel chains. Her emerald eyes were stuck wide open, her pupils dilated, yet dead to the world, doing little to assauge her fears that she'd been transporting a corpse all this time.

“What the hell?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In canon, Ruby is said to be pretty shy and socially awkward, but grows from it when she gets the opportunity to become a hero at Beacon Academy. In this world, there are no heroes, only capitalism, so she’s never had an outlet in her life where she could properly develop emotionally; hence, her dependency on weed to ‘become’ a more outgoing version of herself. That was the idea i sorta wanted to flesh out in this fic. 
> 
> also, yes, i know it's a pretty flimsy justification for vampires in this world, but vampires are hot, and vampires x werewolves are hot, don't judge me  
> 
> 
> dunno if people want this continued. if people want me to focus on other stuff, I will, this was just a fun possibly one-shot I wanted to write out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: Alcohol, Weed, Making Out, Masturbation
> 
> welp, here it is; more adventures with the jaded screwup lesbians

  
  


In retrospect, there were plenty of decisions Weiss could have made to avoid the situation she’d gotten herself in. Not swiping right on every Tinder girl’s profile she saw would have been a fine start. Yes, the practice had gotten her laid more often, but perhaps she should have checked the woman’s dating profile after they’d confirmed the date, if not before?

It was that idiot stoner’s fault, for making her desperate enough to do anything to get stupid, sexy Ruby out of her mind.

And now, here she was. Drunk off her ass from half a box of red wine and hiding beneath the shade of an old oak tree in the front yard of some Mcmansion all the way out in The Jewel. To add to her situation, it was midday. If the sun so much as caught in her eyes, she wouldn’t be able to see.

To top it all off, the only shred of clothing she had on her were bright white pair of her undies because _of course._

And because all of her misfortune wasn’t enough, Ruby just had to walk on by, because _of fucking course._

“Bestie~? That you?” Ruby’s voice. She hadn’t the will to lift her head up and look, so she settled for imagining the stoner, her tail wagging to and fro over their impromptu reunion. 

At the sound of her voice, Weiss instinctively scowled, wanting to bury her head underneath the artificial grass and call it a day. She’d already had a plan; fall asleep on the lawn, hope police didn’t show up to throw her in the slammer for loitering, and indulge in the worst walk of shame she would likely ever have the misfortune of walking through her short, miserable life.

Instead, she could hear Ruby starting over to her. This cursed day could not come closer to an end.

Lo and behold, Ruby’s insufferably cute, bloodshot silver eyes hovered over hers, flashing an elated smile that was making her head spin. Of course she was stoned again. “Weissy! It is you!” A worried frown crossed on Ruby’s face. “You, uhm, wow, you look like you got run over by the fun police.”

Weiss gave her as nasty a glare as her inebriation would allow. Or at least, she’d tried, her drunk ass opting to giggle instead. “S’not my fault.” She said, her nose crinkling from the musky, woody smell Ruby had spilling off of her. Weed. So she’d smoked this time around. “Ugh, go away. You smell like… grass.”

Ruby balled her fists, giving her a frustrated pout, and _whining_. “Weiss, come on. We’re besties. Remember? I wanna help you. Tell me why you’re lounging out here half-naked, and,” she sniffed the air, “drunk off your ass?”

Weiss looked her up and down; Ruby was wearing a long, flowing black summer skirt that hiked just high enough to show off the better part of her thigh, alongside an ill-fitting shirt hanging loose off her shoulders, showing off just enough skin to reveal the black bra strap underneath, and the tattoos marking her right shoulder. Gods help her. With the sunglasses perched at her neck, and the bag slung around her shoulder, Weiss could only assume; beach bum. That she smelled like weed also helped, too.

Ruby blushed, she must have realized what she’d been doing. Weiss groaned. “I went on a Tinder date.”

Ruby muffled herself, almost holding back a snort.

Weiss gave a ‘hmph’, and rolled over onto her side so she wouldn’t see her. “Stop laughing!” She said, trailing off into a drunken whine.

“S’not laughing, I’m uh… kinda stoned right now.”

“I figured.” She grumbled. “Laugh at my expense all you want. She was, like, really really cute and stuff but she turned out to be an enormous ass. Like, this big.” To illustrate her point, she made a wide gesture with her arms. “Told me I wasn’t like all the other Faunus girls, started ranting about Faunus rights while she was taking off my pants-”

That only sent Ruby chortling even more, which had Weiss, unexpectedly, smiling. Perhaps it wasn’t all a waste, if it had Ruby laughing so much at her expense. “I’m sorry, I’m-”

“Fine, fine, laugh all you freaking want.” Weiss said. “Walked right on out of there with only my undies on. Phone’s out of power as well, so I’ve been stranded here since the second I walk into the sun, I can’t bloody well see.”

Ruby tilted her head at her, offering her a water canteen. “You sure it’s not because you smell like booze? Because-”

“I’m like, very well certain.” Weiss said, accepting the canteen with glee, the heat today undoing her. Vampires weren’t supposed to sweat, and yet here she was, with her bra almost soaked through. “I’ve been wayy drunker than this, and I’ve made my way back to my motel room before then.”

Ruby’s ears perked up. Internally, Weiss groaned for what she’d let slip. “You’re living in a motel room?”

“It’s, like, only temporary, at least until I have the paperwork all sorted out.” It was a lie, but she wouldn’t allow Ruby to take more pity on her than necessary. Knowing what she’d have to do next, she bit her teeth, stifled a groan, and sighed. “Can you uhm… let me use your phone to call an uber to take me back to my place? Pretty please?”

Weiss figured there’d been another complication from the way Ruby’s voice hanged. “Uhm, well,”

“Oh my gods, you don’t have a phone, do you?”

“I was planning to like, hit the beach which is only like a five minute walk away from home. I usually don’t bring my phone whenever I’m planning to go swimming, which is why I usually leave it behind at home whenever I go out.”

Weiss set her head against the grass. “Great. Just great. I’m stuck here until the sun fucks off.”

Ruby shook her head fiercely, her tail suddenly excited, wagging around. “Well, I’m not about to leave my bestie behind.” Suddenly, Ruby made a face with a wide grin spelling _‘I have an idea_ ’. Shit. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”  
  


“Ruby? Ruby, wait-!” Weiss tried staggering after her, the alcohol and the damned sun keeping her down. She groaned. All she could do now was resign herself to her fate and wait until Ruby came back, which, at the speed she’d taken off, did not take long.

“Here! I got the best umbrella in the house. You’ll never need another one, swear.” Ruby’d come back with a long, black umbrella, unfurling it right above her and holding it out for her to take. She panted heavily, a subtle tinge of sweat layered across her forehead. Dear gods.

Weiss rolled her eyes, stammering out her response. “Thanks. Unfortunately, umbrellas don’t usually work. They’re usually too… small.”

“Which is why I asked shopkeep if he had anything made especially for Vampires. See?”

Still skeptical, Weiss took the umbrella, almost fumbling it out of her hands with how heavy it was. The shade provided by the umbrella was obscenely spacious, larger than a beach umbrella, she surmised. Reluctantly, she carried the weighted umbrella out into the sun and looked around. Her vision remained intact, with only a subtle, scratchy irritation at the base of her neck that’d be easily ignored. 

Her head still heavy, Weiss ground her teeth, the weighted umbrella too much for her to carry for long. “Okay, so it really works. But I’m… it’s so heavy.”

“How far’s your ride? Or your motel?” Ruby asked, taking the weighted umbrella for her. With some effort, she slung the handle over her shoulder, offering a shaky arm for Weiss to boost herself up with. “Or if you want, we can head back to my place, and-”

Her legs stiff, Weiss’s knees buckled when her feet met the burning asphalt, caught only by the sudden reflexes of Ruby’s arms. So there she was, wrapped in her embrace, her face very red for reasons greater than today's weather. Ruby’s body heat was warm, and with nary a shred of clothing on her, Weiss’s face burned. 

Ruby rummaged through her knapsack, seemingly oblivious to it all. Or maybe stupid, sexy Ruby was in on the whole thing, trying to seduce her stupid gay heart while acting all oblivious. “Sandals?” From her bag, Ruby held out a pair of the footwear.

Suddenly, maybe because of the alcohol in her body, or maybe because she was feeling petty that day, Weiss had a very, very, not nice idea. Wordlessly, she took the slippers, and stood back from Ruby as far as she could, to make sure the dolt would get a full view of this. She stretched out her arms, rolling her hips sensuously, groaning so it all would remain a ruse. Turning on her heel, she kneeled down, slipping on her footwear, taking far longer than she’d needed. 

When she’d turned around, Ruby blushed furiously, stammering out an apology and looking away. Red-handed; Ruby’d been ogling her in her wet, almost see-through panties. 

A smug grin curated Weiss’s lips, and the alcohol spoke for her before her brain could catch up. “Actually, I was considering joining you at the beach.”

Ruby’s tail jolted straight up. Everywhere she saw skin burned red as roses. It was devilishly fun, teasing the stoner like this, being able to pierce through her defenses. “You sure? I’ll be in the water most of the time.”

“Oh I’m sure.” Weiss said. “I’d rather not let this day go to waste as is, and I’m sure I’ll have a terribly fun time, watching you splash about in the ocean and all.”

Ruby, who’d seemed very much intrigued by the prospect, gave a smile she could only describe as, ‘flirty.’

Shit.

She was so doomed.

“Guess you will, Weissy. You want a shirt before we head off?”

Weiss considered it, suddenly reminded that she had a thing called self-consciousness. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

Oh she’d been _so_ wrong on that one. Instead of pulling the shirt from her bag as Weiss had expected her to, Ruby set the umbrella down, stripping off her shirt and baring her chest, her modest chest covered only by the scant material of her black bikini. Free to breathe was the half of a tattoo sleeve that marked the upper portion of her right arm, all beautiful works of roses and other such flowers.

Holy shit.

She wanted to stop staring, but Ruby seemingly only invited her to continue ogling her, stretching out those wonderfully toned arms of hers. Her beautifully tanned skin glistened with sweat, Ruby letting out a husky, soft groan while she popped her shoulders.

“You going to stop staring at my boobs or what?” The sight of her flirty smirk snapped her back to the present, where Ruby held out her shirt for her to take. 

She could only hope Ruby wouldn’t hear her excitedly squeak as she slipped on the shirt that smelled wonderfully of weed, and of rose-scented sunscreen. 

* * *

Truthfully, Weiss never had much attachment for the beach. Namely from the fact that she couldn’t go swimming until the sun had gone and fucked off, when the water would be freezing her poor, slim ass off.

“Oh come on Weiss!” Ruby admonished her for her admission, spinning around on the towel she’d laid out for her. They’d set up just where the sand skirted the coming seaweed laden tide, where it was still reasonably dry enough for her for her bottoms to not soak through. “What don’t you like bout the beach? Is it the sand?”

Weiss only gestured to her blackish-red eyes. 

“Oh.” Ruby’s face softened, her ears curling out of sympathy. “Do you ever wish…” Whatever she had to say trailed off, but Weiss understood what she’d meant to say clear and well.

Out of the grand scheme of her life under Father’s thumb for twenty-two years of her alcohol-laden existence, the beach seemed terribly mundane to reflect on.

“Yes.” Weiss said, her voice soft. “I’ve never gone swimming before, but I’d always wanted to as a child.” She blushed furiously, blinking away sudden tears. _Scheisse,_ the alcohol was making her talk.

Adding further to her embarrassment, were Ruby’s arms, wrapping around her in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry. If it helps, I used to hate swimming for a lot of my life. Wasn’t until recently that I realized how much I loved it.”

Her nose was buried in her hair, so she breathed in, figuring ‘fuck it.’ Again, she smelled of weed and strawberries, a combination growing evermore intoxicating by the moment.

“I wouldn’t have figured.” Weiss chuckled. 

Ruby made a pout at her, of mock offense. “Well what did you figure?”

_That you’re literally the worst girl for my inhibitions._

“Well,” Ruby drawled, “from my unimportant point of view, you’re just a thirsty, lonely girl--”

_Okay, true._

“--trying to go after poor little me.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, Ruby giggling as she was given a very well-deserved shove onto the sand.

“Maybe true.” Weiss snickered, eyes falling to the view Ruby’s skirt was giving her.

“You really love my butt, don’t you?”

_Oh, fuck it._

“Only when I’m drunk.”

Another flirty grin curled at Ruby’s lips, her tail excitedly curling around. “You usually this flirty when you’re drunk?”

_‘Yes, but I've only ever had this much fun doing it with you.’_

“You usually this flirty when you’re high?”

There was a flirty, mischievous flash in Ruby’s eyes. Weiss’s mouth hung open, herself lost in a trance, lost in those silvered, bloodshot eyes of hers. Lost in her eyes, imaginary-Weiss hobbled onward in her misty gaze, wanting, waiting.

“What are you going to do about it, Weiss?”

Weiss snapped. Lost to her instincts, real-Weiss pushed forward, grabbing Ruby’s shoulders and pulling her in for a kiss. Once the initial bewilderment had worn off, Ruby returned the kiss, smiling into it, the two of them moaning, Weiss quietly mirthful their game of cat and mouse was long over.

Weiss tasted blood; Ruby’d cut one her tongue on one of her fangs. Hungrily, Weiss sought out more, her tongue finding, then lapping at the cut, relishing more of the taste of sweet iron.

Ruby groaned, their kiss breaking, Ruby sliding onto Weiss in one fluid movement. Weiss’s legs instinctively spread, slipping around her, startled, if delighted by the dominance. Ruby’s tail shakes around nervously, betraying the front she’d tried to put on. Her feet take Ruby’s tail, holding it in place while it thrashes around, squirming and writhing against the hold. 

Experimentally, her feet pulled at her tail. Immediately, Ruby whimpered with need, breaking her hold to bury her face in Weiss’s chest.

A switch. Hmm.

An unmistakably shit-eating grin graced Weiss’s lips. “How’d you like that? Hmm?” Her voice came out breathy, but _very_ contented with herself. 

Ruby purred. “I liked that a little bit.” It came out as a growl, soft, yet husky.

Between the two of them, one question still lingered between them. Are they really going to do this? In full public view, on a beach? For Weiss, the answer is no. She’s nowhere near drunk enough, nor does she like this girl enough to go ahead and try a stunt like that. She’s all but certain it’s the same for Ruby.

Weiss pushed her off, or Ruby pushes herself off, the two of them content to lie at each other's side. For Weiss, she’s smiling and relaxed and loose-limbed in a way that makes her oh, so satisfied with herself; it’s been a while since she’s been genuinely horny for someone else in a way that wasn’t just the wine talking. Ruby seems as such too, judging from the way she can’t decide whether to nuzzle in her neck or spoon her, the indecisive girl.

“You uhm, going to spoon me or do you need me to spoon you?” Weiss asked, giggly.

“Uhm,” Ruby started, and Weiss has to bite back a snicker because it’s really cute seeing the stoner all flustered like this, “which one would you like more?”

Sighing out of mildly flustered frustration at her indecisiveness, Weiss opted to roll over atop Ruby with an ‘oomph’, Ruby giggling, sprawling away from her on her back.

“Hey, hands away from the tummy! Please?” Ruby said, sounding particularly flustered at the touchiness of a happily drunk Weiss. 

Her attention called to Ruby’s button-sized navel, Weiss found herself admiring the delicate jewelwork of the piercing done there, it’s ruby dangling over her belly button. “Your belly piercing. It’s really cute.”

Ruby blushed. “You’re really laying on the compliments today, aren’t you?”

Weiss shut her eyes, content to just nuzzle against Ruby’s bosom and feeling the alcohol swimming through her blood. “Just laying out the truth. I lie a lot so… feeling truthful is very nice. You’re proving much more flustered today, I might add.”

“Heh. Didn’t take as much weed as I would have if I’d known I’d be…”

“Be…?”

Ruby’s eyes glazed over her, lost in the sunny blue skies above, long away from any of the problems that might have befallen her. “Talking to people. Not good at it unless I munch on a couple more edibles than everyone else.”

“Don’t you carry some in your purse?”

“Not when I go to the beach! Sometimes I get really hungry after swimming and some of the gummies just taste _so_ good.”

“Then pack a snack in that bag of yours.” 

Ruby's ears perked up. "I did!" She pulled over her bag, pulling out two balls of rice, wrapped with seaweed. "Jelly donut? My sister made them!"

She accepted the ball of rice, biting in. Taste-wise, it was rather plain, about what she'd suspected, though there were some savory bits intermingled with the rice, and in the core, were sour, red fruits that made her nose crinkle every time she bit into them. For her empty, drunk stomach though...

"This..." Weiss frowned, slowly, "isn't a jelly donut."

Ruby sputtered out a breath. "Oh my gods Weiss, you're so innocent."

Weiss furrowed her brow at her. "Is it a sex thing?"

"What? Oh, gods no! Just a stupid meme from a while back. Was it good?"

Weiss whined, cradling the rice ball to her chest. "It was amazing~"

An agreeable silence settled over them. Weiss was content with whatever arrangement they had at hand, happy she had Ruby to hold onto while they listened to the tide crawling gently to the shore, and to the distant calls of seagulls squawking in distant skies far above. And somehow, Weiss knew Ruby felt that way alongside her.

It was a long silence between them. Ruby would be the one to break it. “You wanna go swimming?”

“For the last fucking time Ruby, I can’t fucking see.”

Ruby did not seem perturbed in the slightest. “So?”

“It’d be nice to fucking see.”

“I could hold onto the umbrella while you splash around, knee-deep. You’re sloshed, so not a great idea to go any deeper. But getting to splash around in the water, with the waves coming in to knock you over and slap your cute ass is always fun Weiss.”

Weiss regarded her with suspicion. “This is just a ploy so you can ogle me while I’m soaked, isn’t it?”

“...Maybe.” Ruby said, her ears curling innocently.

“I don’t,” Weiss sighed, becoming very aware of Ruby’s pout and puppy dog eyes. “Oh, fine. What exactly am I supposed to do in the water anyways?”

“Splash around, have fun, and try not to drown.”

To Weiss’s bitter admission, she took to the water quickly, laughing together when the first wave knocked her squarely on her ass, soaking her hair with silt-laden water. There was a familiar tightness in her chest, the telltale strings of romance being pulled with them huddled together closely with the umbrella for shade. Giggly with mirth, Weiss gleefully splashed Ruby without retribution while her arms were occupied, the wolf girl’s soaked tail still wagging around with glee. 

They laughed and laughed again, with the alcohol carrying her step; it’s been ages since she’d first taken to the drink, but she’s laughing the same way she had back then, then the alcohol made her feel light, not heavy. 

So with a drunken smile, Weiss figured ‘fuck it’, and took the umbrella from Ruby’s hands, planting it deep in the tide. Ruby let out a surprised yelp when she’d pushed her into the tide, straddling her in one smooth motion, and taking her salty, sea-kissed lips into hers. 

Ruby spat out a gob of seawater between kisses, the tide just low enough for her to breathe whenever the water receded. “You going to drown me?” Ruby whispered.

“Maybe.” Weiss said, in a sing-song tone.

“There are other people watching us.”

“So?”

“It’d be a shitty way to murder somebody. Too many witnesses. You'd cause a mass panic, and get caught almost instantly.”

Weiss shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“You wouldn't get as many points for this kill!”

“Then drown.”

Weiss raised her hand to Ruby’s cheek, puffed and red, brushing her gently with her fingertips. She kissed her again, and again, and again, just happy to be alive. Which to her, was the whole point of it all.

They left the beach around sundown, though not without catching the eye of just about everyone around them when they’d taken to the same shower together, clingy and spent. Though she figured she was maybe another hour or so before she’d completely sober up; Ruby’s idiotic mirthfulness had proved to be infectious.

The ramshackle townhouse she’d taken Ruby to proved only a five minute walk away, though they still clung to the other, exhausted from it all. It was more awkward than anything else, both Ruby and Weiss trying several aborted attempts at conversation that went nowhere; the weed must have been wearing off, just as the alcohol had been slipping from her.

Shame.

They made it back to Ruby’s without incident. Weiss watched Ruby scamper up the creaky stairwell leading to her apartment floor with trepidation, waiting, wondering if the girl who’d gotten her all giggly and flustered an hour ago was someone she’d see again. She smiled when Ruby came down, though the wolf girl seemed as quiet and reluctant as she was. Scared almost.

“Hey, uhm, so I’ve got my sister’s phone. Just boop in the address and you’ll be all set.”

Weiss did so, slowly, almost reluctant to head back home. The two of them were holding back; shit, if the drugs had lasted a little bit longer, then maybe, just maybe-

“Guess this is goodbye?” Ruby asked lowly, her eyes darting around everywhere save for her. 

Weiss’s throat was dry. She bit her lip. _‘Just say it. Say it you stupid idiot!’_

“Would you like to meet up again?” They’d both asked it at the same time, the dorks. 

A dry smile crossed Weiss’s lips. “Uhm, I’d take you out somewhere, but I’m still getting to know the city. I-”

“I’ll figure it out.” Ruby said, her tail curled up. “I’m, uhm, er-”

“Hmm?” Weiss opened her mouth to tease her, but saw the way Ruby was drawing in on herself, shy, scared. She wrapped her arms around the wolf faunus, tightly. “You don’t-”

“I’m uh, trans, Weiss.” Ruby said, briskly, without fanfare. Weiss frowned; it’s the second time her insecurities have broken through all the weed she’s gobbled down, the gremlin, but this time, it isn’t nearly as cute. She didn’t have anything to say after, waiting out for her response.

Remembering how delicate the issue had been with Emerald when they’d had a whole poorly defined friends-with-benefits relationship thing going on, a few moments were more than necessary to take for herself to figure out the right way to respond. At odds with the time needed for an elegant response, was Ruby’s anxiety, evident in the way her tail stopped sashaying around, in the worry in her eyes while she waited for Weiss.

“I uhm,” Weiss swallowed, suddenly aware again of how Ruby’s chest was pressing into hers, “I like your boobs.”

Well.

That was a way to put it.

The alcohol had been wearing out of her system, so she couldn’t have even hid behind that.

Ruby’s tail quirked up, the two settling on mutual embarrassment to cool off from how vulnerable she’d made herself right now. “You… did that mean-”

“I think you’re really cute.” Weiss smacked herself in the head. Why wasn’t her mouth working, damn it?

“Are you really-”

“Yes.” Weiss spat out, tightening the embrace. “I’m still, for whatever reason, stupidly infatuated with your high ass.”  
  


“Not as high anymore right now.” Ruby squeaked out, returning the affections. “Uhm, were you open tomorrow night?”

“Yes.” Weiss said, far too quickly. “I am.”

So with a notepad and pen Ruby had brought down here for this particular se, they exchanged numbers, Weiss particularly embarrassed with how much her handwriting had turned to mush over the months she’d been living free. Her ride stopped by shortly after; reluctantly, Weiss went over, with the promise of tomorrow not enough to sate her wanting for Ruby’s company.

Ruby called after her, just as she’d been about to get in. “Hey, uhm, Weiss?”

Again, she’d responded embarrassingly quick. “Yes Ruby?”

“You don’t… think I’m annoying when I’m stoned, do you?”

Weiss considered the question for a bit. “Yes. But I’m a hassle to deal with whenever I’m sloshed, so I’d say it evens out.”

Surprised, a cute little smile crossed Ruby’s lips, her tail curling back up. “Message me when you’re home safe. And see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be expecting it.” She pulled the door shut, still watching Ruby waving her off even after her ride had driven off, only bothering to offer the driver a look when Ruby was out of view.

As if today couldn’t get any better, the driver hadn’t said a word along the way, their lips and annoying attempts to make small talk kept shut and at bay, letting Weiss properly soak in her time with Ruby.

Did she like the girl? Yes, they were clearly physically attracted to one another, but whether that meant they could sustain any actual relationship beyond mutual fuckbuddies was beyond her. She couldn’t deny herself; Ruby was different from all the other girls. In a way that got her heart racing and her mouth saying idiotic banalities, not in a way that made her want to go on Reddit. 

Halfway through her ride, she remembered. She was still wearing the shirt Ruby’d given her. The driver’s air freshener notwithstanding, it still smelled like her. Salt, weed, and strawberries.

Fuck.

The stairwell leading up to her room tortures her rigidly sore legs, screaming at her for all the walking she'd rung them through. She's just awake enough to slide the keycard through, flop onto her filthy mattress bed, and strip off Ruby's shirt so she can shove her pillow between her thighs, rutting against it without shame.

She imagines relentlessly grinding against Ruby's thigh, hand wrapped around that adorable little tail of hers, fingers dug into her pert little hole until she's spent breathless against her, crying out with whatever voice she has left as she spills against her tummy. Or maybe Ruby might have her on her arms and knees? Ass up, pressed into the bed while her member would slide in and out of her, pounding her until she cums, blissfully.

She comes with a stifled shriek, squirting against her well-stained pillow, releasing all the build-up from an entire day of relentless, mutual teasing between her and Ruby. The afterglow having her see stars, she's well contented to lie around, all dazed and sated, only getting up to pour out a glass of boxed, metallic wine to sip on, fumbling around for the remote for some white noise from the television. She curses herself, remembering; she needed to message Ruby, to let her know she was okay.

It isn't until she's fumbled around the ungodly collection of emptied wine bottles scattered around the room (that she really needed to consider recycling at the acid flats one day), all in search for the phone charger she'd misplaced a couple of days ago, when she finally notices her little 'gift' had gone missing.

The robotic doll that idiot SDC grunt had left behind as a present in her trunk, some days ago. It wasn't there. Where was it? It should have been _right there._ Where-

“Sal-u-tations!”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope y'all got some enjoyment out of this at least. decided that we needed a little whiterose heat before moving onto the frosen steel disaster trio. it's settled that they're both mutually thirsty for each other, but maybe they can have something beyond that?
> 
> it's been a long while since i've accidentally gotten myself drunk trying alcohol, so hope Weissy came off as drunk. I decided to make her more of a depressive drunk, who can become a flirty, open drunk if she's with someone she likes.
> 
> also venturing into uncharted territory by making ruby and weiss both switches lol. ruby theoretically could be a service top, but really enjoys the gender euphoria of being a submissive mess, while weissy is a dumb competitive bitch, who likes to fight for who gets to top, but can also switch modes at a moment's notice
> 
> next up: Triple Date?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a make it or break it chapter that'll determine whether I continue it or not, depending on it's reception. Penny will be acting a bit different than her usual, bubbly self for reasons that will be explained in the chapter, and at the end, if necessary.
> 
> CW: Mentions of Masturbation, Repression of Sexuality, Mentions of Child Abuse

The robot/machine/construct held a hand over her ‘throat’, as if surprised at how loud she’d been. “Apologies. I had not calibrated my voice modulation system.”

Weiss herself was very much aware that thanks to her frame, she by herself, was not a very intimidating person without the use of her namesake. But still, so be it her luck that she’d managed to grab onto the single least intimidating weapon she could have grabbed her hands on in that moment.

A snow white dildo.

“Stay back!” It was laughable, to the point where she’d wanted to drop the ‘weapon’ onto the floor and laugh at herself. Had it not been for the… robot? staring her down, that was.

The robot frowned, though her eyes roamed up and down Weiss’s form, reminding her that she was still very much undressed, and in very soaked through pair of panties with sand getting into places she really had not wanted sand to get into. “Oh, uhm, I did not mean to scare you!” The robot said, strangely flustered, with a pink tinge at her cheeks. “You returned while I was in the bathroom, and I presumed that revealing myself while you were looking for me would be cause you the least surprise while introducing myself. Then you started pleasuring yourself, and-”

“What!?” Weiss screamed, Penny doubling back, fearful. “I mean… you didn’t watch, did you?” She said, her voice down three notches. 

“Uhm, no!” Penny said unconvincingly, her fake flesh burning red. “I mean… a little.”

Weiss let out a tired groan, though impressed with the robot’s ability to feign emotional reactions to social situations. “It wasn’t your fault. What about the bathroom though? You’re a robot? Why were you waiting in the bathroom?”

The robot pouted, almost naturally at her words, though her reaction was a tad stilted, a second off, almost veering into uncanny territory. She looked her down, surprised at how lifelike the design was; all she’d known of similar robots were that they were years away from appearing humanlike. “Not a robot, an android. Penny! And to answer, I was playing my video game in the bathroom because my social modulator presumed you would dislike it if I took your place on your bed. Was I correct?”

Penny’s ‘eyes’ were narrowed at hers; the tone of speech was better matching her words, and the timing. “Well, thank you for considering that.” Weiss said, already wanting to return to her wine. “You don’t have a tracker on you, do you?”

Penny shook her head. “Father gave a directive that in response to these questions, that I present you with this.” From her pocket, Penny produced a crinkled note with meticulous handwriting that made Weiss suddenly very self conscious about hers. “I have not read it, as I was given a directive not to.”

_ If you are reading this, then my gambit has worked. My name is Pietro Polendina, and I implore you to consider my message for the sake of my surrogate daughter, Penny.  _

__ Weiss’s eyes widened. The Pietro Polendina? The brightest mind of all of Atlas?

_ Under the research laboratories funded by the SDC and the Atlessian Government, my team developed what I unequivocally believe to be Remnant’s first artificial consciousness, perfectly capable of perceiving and feeling just as a human does. We modelled her behavioral and consciousness patterns to resemble closely to that of a young adult woman. The reason why you are reading this right now is because the SDC’s management does not share the same long term goals as do I. _

_ They will never permit my daughter, who has been naturally curious of the outside world as of late, to venture out and have a normal life, as she has bluntly expressed interest in having. For the past five years of her life, they have refused all requests for her to venture out, and have treated her more akin to a project, a stepping stone in their careers, rather than an actual living being. _

...Fuck. 

Fuck. 

She couldn’t just dump her off somewhere and forget about her now.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

_ As of recent, Penny has developed symptoms in her conscious, lived experience symptomatically identical to depression. My wish is for my daughter to get a chance at life. Several months ago, I attempted to take Penny with me to Mistral, where we might have started a new life, but were caught, and placed under the watch of the SDC’s internal security for future affairs. So I gave custody of her over to my very forgetful assistant, knowing that he would eventually leave Penny behind somewhere, and maybe give her a fair chance at life. _

_ I ask that of you that you be the one to give her a fair chance at life. I have deactivated all tracking devices embedded within her. Her appearance is entirely personalized, and will be unrecognizable to her SDC handlers who will be inevitably be searching for her. Stored inside Penny’s operating system is a credit chit, which will support her with a small lump sum of money I saved up over the years for her, around two-thousand Lien per month. It is for her, and for her to spend alone. _

_ If you are not up to the task I have asked of you, then I understand. I only ask that you bring my daughter to one of the aforementioned addresses listed below, belonging to friends I know I can trust.  _

_ -Pietro Polendina. _

“You are finished reading?” Penny asked, her voice upticking. She’d been staring at her eyes, following her where she’d read, anxiously waiting, studying her for any telltale signs for her answer.

Weiss groaned in the affirmative, stretching out her arms and letting out a loud yawn. She remembered that yes, she was still in her white undies, now soaked through with saltwater and lodged with sand in places she really did not want to have sand in any longer. “I’m too tired to think this through. You can stay a couple of nights, at least.” With a swift movement, she took her as of yet, untouched wine glass, sipping half of it down in one go. “Take the bed if you want, I’ve had a long day.”

Penny frowned. “I don’t understand. How can a day be any longer than twenty-four hours, or one-thousand four-hundred and forty minutes?”

“I…” Weiss held her head in her hands, already feeling sleep stalk her. “Do you have a phone?”

Penny nodded. “Yes?” It came out in a confused tone.

“Good! Look up a word phrase, and uhm, search up the phrase ‘long day’, while I go take a shower because I’m really exhausted.”

“Oh!” Penny scanned her surroundings, still looking at unease with it all. “Are you sure with me taking space on your bed? It is yours.” Penny said, carefully, afraid.

Weiss, with as much sympathy she could muster, offered Penny a smile. “Of course, Penny.”

Penny, still seeming out of place, bowed. It was awkward. “Thank you.”

“Weiss. Just Weiss.”

“Uhm, Weiss? Thank you.”

Having intended to use shower time as an outlet to vent her sexual tension with Ruby, she stood under the scalding shower spray with dismay, trying to wrap it all around in her head how she’d support another young adult in her dilapidated excuse for a household.

Once the hot water had gone and pithered out on her, leaving only the pitiful excuse of a showerhead the motel had showered on spurting out pressureless, lukewarm water, she stepped out with only a towel wrapped around her form, ready to shut her eyes and nab some sleep for tomorrow. Penny’s eyes though, clung to her form while she stepped out, her ‘cheeks’ flushing the faintest outline of a blush, even while she pretended to be more invested in her game than anything else.

She’d been intending to change in front of Penny, expecting the android to be unfussed about the matter, but with the android putting effort to not sneak looks while Weiss scoured the rack of clothes in the miniscule closet she’d been given, she opted instead to change in the bathroom to spare her from further embarrassment.

Once she’d changed into her nightgown and stepped out, Penny’s eyes sneaked a look again, seemingly relieved she’d chosen to wear clothes. Without much else left to fuel her consciousness, she slumped onto the bed, claiming the pillow she’d abused with her cunt from Penny, and closed her eyes, letting her brain tune out to the cartoons playing in the background.

“If you need anything, just let me know. I’ve had a long… day.” 

  
  
  
  


“Just some questions.” Penny’s voice stirred her from her half-slumber. Without irritation, Weiss turned on her side.

“Yes Penny?”

“This animation is… quite a strange representation of humanoid life.”

“Eh?” Weiss focused at the brick of a television complementary to her room. Running on screen right now was some show that was from her guess, about magical gay space rock people. “They’re cartoons. You’ve never watched them?”

Penny’s eyes narrowed at the screen; right now, a short, red figure was stomping on some metallic door, using her presumably fire powers to burn it down, only to emotionally burn herself out and slump at it. “During my tests, I was forbidden from consuming outside media, in spite of my curiosity. They claimed it would ruin accumulated years of ongoing research, and would always be mad if I so much as watched anything behind their backs without permission.” 

_ Gods. No wonder her father wanted her free. _

“Do you like cartoons, Weiss?”

Half-asleep from exhaustion, Weiss’s mouth spoke before she could think. “It’s just on as background noise to help me sleep. Father never permitted me to watch cartoons as a child, for… similar reasons.” Exact same reasons, but details, details.

Penny regarded her slowly, timidly. “I have not... done anything outside of your permission, have I Weiss?”

Weiss’s eyes widened, stirred wide awake now. “What? No! Penny, you don’t need my permission to do anything. Not when you’re with me.”

Penny looked at her skeptically. “...I have been told that before.”

Weiss shifted on the bed, trying to figure out how to make her body language more open, trusting for Penny. “Well I’m not some disgusting Chromium Valley bastard who thinks you’re my ticket to discovering ‘next big thing’ in tech. Your Father wanted you to be free. You’re your own person now.” 

At the mention of her Father, Penny’s look softened. “Is Mister Polendina… alright?”

She hadn’t the heart to lie to her, but she’d barely the gall to tell her the truth. “I’m not sure. I think he covered his tracks well-enough.”

Helpless and stuck in a motel room with a drunkard, it seemed absurd that Penny might get any relief from the emotionally screwed-up drunkard ex-heiress. “I’m just… very concerned for his well-being.”

_ She had him, at least. _

Penny switched gears, perhaps literally. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t meant to be a damper on your moodlet. I-”

Weiss shook her head. “You’re talking about your emotions. That’s a good thing.”

_ Better than me, at least. _

__ With the look she’d given her, she might as well have kept apologizing. “I’m not being a burden on your current situation, am I?”

Half-tempted to as whatever she meant by ‘current situation’, Weiss’s tongue held back. Technically, yes, Penny was being a burden, but if Ruby showed up the next day with a U-haul and everything, moving into her room with the promise of constant hot, gay sex, then it’d still be a burden, yes, but a welcome one.

So she spoke truthfully. “It was getting lonely out here, spending most of my nights alone. I’ve always preferred to spend the night with someone else.”

Penny blinked, struck silly by what she’d just said. “Uhm… did you mean…”

Weiss flushed red, not having expected her to understand that. “Well… sometimes.” She said, burying her face underneath the sheets. “How’d you catch the meaning of that, by the way?”

Penny was suddenly struck by a shade of red, suddenly flustered for words. “Uhm, well, it’s an obscure story that triggers my social embarrassment function which I can’t control, and uhm-!”

Weiss’s mouth curled up in a mean smirk. “Come on Penny, you can tell me. Pretend this is a sleepover, and we’re sharing all our dirty secrets. I mean, it is sort of fair considering you watched me earlier.”

Penny’s skin burned red from her fingertips, to her ears. “I don’t understand exactly, but I will… try, Uhhhm, so you see, there was a thing, and another thing, and one thing led to another where that led to another thing, and-”

“I’m just teasing Penny.” Weiss said, stifling down a chortle. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”   
  


Penny’s eyes blanked. “Is it a relatable feeling when… you have a secret in your memory that you are dying to get out, even though it is very embarrassing?”

“Of course it is.”

Briefly, Penny was relieved. “So. Uhm,” she started, in a meek voice, “my handlers. They permitted me to use several personal computing devices, though with many of the websites online blocked.”

Weiss made an interested sound, sipping on her wine. “And?”

Penny looked as if she wanted to dive under the blanket and hide. “They weren’t… successful at blocking all of them.”

The implications hung over the two of them, Weiss smacking her lips from (mostly) the wine. “Oh.”

In spite of how red she was, how hot her mechanical body was running, heating up their heaterless room, Penny only seemed wanting to continue. Though her eyes were darting wildly around, save for in Weiss’s direction. “I w-was able to a-access videos of a nature that was p-”

“I understood the implications.” Weiss said before Penny could blow a gasket. “That’s… if…” Weiss frowned, trying to navigate the complications of how Penny’s consciousness had been created, “that’s completely normal for someone like you to be curious about… these matters.”

Penny, still unconvinced, twiddled her thumbs. “From how my handlers treated the matter, I am supposed to react to humanoid sexual matters with revulsion.”

Weiss gagged. “Why? Wait, don’t explain why. Were you meant to be their ideal of a perfect woman?”

“I…” Penny drawled, “they considered any reactive output on my part that was not negative or indifferent to be a failure, and would wipe portions internal memory whenever my reactions did not coincide with their goals for me.”

“But, you remember having access to porn.”

Penny blushed. “After my tests regarding my reactions to visual sexual stimulation.”

Weiss winced at the words. Being able to retreat back to her own room, cry out her issues, and finger herself religiously until her stress had been sated had been the only reason she’d made it out of Manor Schnee with a reasonably intact state of mind (that was seemingly less and less intact upon analysis, day by day). “That’s awful.” She said, her face burning red. Giving a cut down version of ‘the talk’ was not how she’d expected to be spending tonight. “Whether you enjoy your sexual experiences is up to you to decide. Not up to your father, not up to some stuffy sex-repressed science idiots all the way up in Chromium Valley, not up to me.”

“I don’t know whether I am capable of sexuality or not.”

“Did you… enjoy watching those videos?” Weiss asked, burying her head in her cunt-splooge soaked pillow (yes, she did not have a better word for it). 

A fan, presumably located in Penny’s body, blew hot and fast, Penny herself heating up the room again. “...A little bit.”

Weiss swallowed. “Well, if you enjoyed watching these videos, you shouldn’t punish yourself or feel embarrassed for watching and/or enjoying their… content.”

Penny’s green, far-from innocent eyes darted to and fro, a gear in her body jamming with a  _ thunk.  _ She stood from the bed, starting for the bathroom. “Uhm, I must run diagnostics in the bathroom-okay, bye!”

Grateful she didn’t need to give the presumably adult android a hackneyed version of ‘the talk’, anymore, Weiss let out a tired sigh, letting the alcohol sink in, carrying her to sleep. It wasn’t as if she could support Penny with her salary, having about a month or so less at the motel at the most. She’d be living out of her car for a week at least before nabbing her own apartment; and now she’d have Penny to take into account, an SDC android with a fucked up childhood, still developing social skills, and who might bring with her additional maintenance costs on the table.

That was, if Penny wanted to stay with her in the first place. Though with Penny’s sob story unloaded onto her, and Weiss having bitten into it, hook, like, and sinker, it wasn’t as if she could let Penny go without it being a weight on her insufferable, insufferable conscience. She was now roommates with a girl who was just as fucked in the head as her. Just her luck.

And to top it all off, she had a date with Ruby tomorrow.

...Could she leave Penny alone for extended periods at a time?

...She couldn’t, could she?

...Oh gods, she had a  _ lot _ to explain to Ruby tomorrow.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Penny here's been beaten down by a lifetime of being treated as an object or a project, rather than an actual person, whose emotions belonged to her. She has shades of her happy, bubbly self within her, but she's scared to let it out because those are seen as 'defects' by the SDC.
> 
> meh. comments down below will help me if this interpretation of penny is any decent or not. that's my main hangup with this fic lol, and if it's unpopular, I might reconsider rewriting the chapter a month or so later


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